Anyone else in my shoes? Ears going.........

Ear-igra is not for everyone- just men who are healthy enough to listen to music. If you have a listening session that lasts more than 4 hours, you should seek an audiologist's help immediately.

There is far more to music than just frequency response - think distortion, pitch, timbre, timing, etc. In fact each of us has such a unique combination of frequency response and varying sensitivity to the other factors that it's a wonder that other peoples opinions on the sound of gear are any use at all. As has been said many other times - if you hear a difference and it's good then that's all that matters.

Dick

Say it ain't so Joe

Plenty of hearing left in my Olddddd ears. You need to get out and listen some more.

You have discovered the cure for "audiophila nervosa" and can now spend time enjoying the music rather than searching for the unattainable.

At 53 I just recently got into high end audio because of my damaged hearing and raging tinitus. I find that the finer equipment allows me to enjoy the spectrum that is left to me better. And I believe that there is evidence out there somewhere that ones hearing acuity does improve within the spectrum you have to work with, much like the nose of a perfumer gets better with training.
For me my ears are ringing when I get home Friday night, but if I wear ear protection mowing the lawn ect, Sunday mornings I can really enjoy my system.
PS, beware of silica based antacids can cause tinitus, its in the fine print if you check.